The Pearl

The Pearl - Page Text Content

S: John Steinbeck The Pearl

FC: The Pearl by John Steinbeck

1: Project by Clay Colvin Mrs. Crew 5th Period November 2, 2010

3: John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr., born February 27, 1902. His father was a treasurer for Monterey County, and his mother was a school teacher. John worked his summers on nearby ranches. John graduated from Salinas High School in 1919 and attended Stanford up until 1925,without earning a degree. After traveling to New York and failing to get his work published, he traveled to California and worked as a tour guide and caretaker for the Fish Hatchery in Tahoe City. There he met his first wife, Carol Henning, and were married in 1930. Living in a cottage owned by his father, he published his first novel, Tortilla Flat. Steinbeck sailed around the Gulf of California with Ed Rickets searching for biological specimens. The Log from the Sea of Cortez describes the voyage. Steinbeck divorced Carol in 1943 and would marry again 2 times. On December 20, 1968, Steinbeck died in New York City of Congestive Heart Failure.

5: La Paz History On May 3rd, 1535, Hernan Cortéz arrived at La Paz, and named it Villa de la Santa Cruz. It got its modern name from Sebastián Vizcaíno after he set up base there while traveling the peninsula. La Paz has been visited by many conquistadors, pirates, missionaries and entrepreneurs. La Paz is now known as the number one place to retire.

6: Kino was the father of Coyotito and the husband of Juana.

7: Juana was the mother of Coyotito and wife of Kino.

8: Coyotito was the son of Kino and Juana.

9: This was the doctor of the local town.

10: Chapter 1 Summary In this chapter, the setting starts off as a very peaceful, quiet, normal day. This Atmosphere quickly disappears at the discovery of a scorpion on the rope of the baby's cradle. Despite Kino's attempt at saving Coyotito, his son, from the scorpion, it stings him. They need help from the doctor, but the doctor will not help them because they do not have enough money.

11: Chapter 2 Summary In this chapter, Kino goes on the search for a pearl to sell for money. He uses his grandfather's canoe, which has been passes down from generation to generation. After carefully searching through the shells, only picking the largest, he sees a giant oyster with what appears to be a great pearl. This oyster does in fact have the pearl, the Pearl of the World.

12: Chapter 3 Summary By this chapter, news of the giant pearl has spread like wildfire. Groups of people gathered around Kino as he talked about plans for the pearl. The priest has come to talk to Kino about giving the church a donation as thanks to the Lord. The doctor visits them, acting as if he really was out on a call from before, and lulls them into looking at Coyotito. He tricks them by making the baby sick, and then he fixes the sickness he gave to the baby. Lastly, an intruder tries to find the pearl in the night, but Kino awakes and fights him off.

13: Chapter 4 Summary In this chapter, Kino goes to sell his pearl. Just as he and his brother had suspected, the buyers tried to cheat him, saying the pearl was a fake. Kino did not fall for trap, and refused to take the offer. Back as the hut, after dark, Kino was attacked by an unknown person, again. Juana insists that they either destroy or get rid of the pearl.

14: Chapter 5 Summary In this chapter, Juana decides to take the pearl and throw it into the sea. Kino heard and saw her, and follows her. Once he caught up to her, he hit her and kicked her out of rage.Once he had the pearl, another man attacked him. He ends up killing his attacker. After the get back to the town they see their house ablaze, and decide to leave town.

15: Chapter 6 Summary In this chapter, Kino and Juana are on the run. Waking from a nightmare, Kino knows something is wrong. Trackers are following them and they have to flee into the mountains. They finally find a waterhole and decide to rest. Kino spots the trackers in the distance. He goes and finds a hiding place and puts Juana and Coyotito in it. He has to slowly make his way to the trackers to get the gun. Once he kills the gunman, gets the gun, and kills the other two trackers, he finds his son has been shot. They make their way back to the town with the baby in Juana's arms, and they decide to throw the pearl back into the ocean.

17: Moral I believe the moral of this story is to appreciate what you have now, and not worry about what you could have, because it could end up getting you or others hurt, or even killed.what was supposed to save Coyotito ended up actually killing him. If Kino and Juana had been happy that their baby had gotten better without the money from the pearl, they would still have their son.